Heather Moyse of Summerside, PEI, an Olympic gold medallist in the sport of bobsleigh and former competitive rugby player, will wear the maple leaf representing Canada in her third elite sport, cycling, this weekend at the 2012 UCI Track Cycling Pan-American Championships in Mar Del Plata, Argentina.

Moyse, who took a year off her winter sport to heal an injury, expressed her interest to join the track cycling program this past summer, and initially worked with track coach Tanya Dubnicoff.

In the fall, Dubnicoff informed Moyse of the time standards she had to meet in order to compete for Canada on the international scene, and Moyse went right to work. Spending countless hours at the velodrome in Los Angeles with a private coach, Moyse challenged herself to work hard, gain control of her bicycle and ride fast.

After the Christmas break, in January, both Moyse and Dubnicoff sat down to discuss her progress and Dubnicoff went on to provide Moyse with an opportunity to meet the standards. The road from that initial discussion to the time trial was not easy. Moyse lost her first training bike, which was sold for parts, and then learnt that the velodrome in Los Angeles where she trained was closed for two weeks for the 2012 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships. Despite the challenges, Moyse decided to stay positive and get right to work to improve her times on the track.

Last week, on February 24th in Los Angeles, Moyse went on to meet the performance standards.

Shortly thereafter, Dubnicoff rewarded the hard work and dedication showed by Moyse, and sent her an invitation to compete for Canada at the 2012 UCI Pan-American Championships in Argentina, an important Olympic qualifier for the Canadian Track Cycling Team.

“With the help of a number of individuals, I beat one of the two time standards that were set for me. I am thrilled to be able to represent Canada in my third national sport - this time on a pair of wheels! But I know that this is just the beginning .... I have a lot of improvement still ahead of me,” said Moyse.

“We made a promise to Heather in the fall that if she met the standards, she would get the opportunity to race for Canada. The time standard she had to meet is the same for everyone who wants to represent Canada at international competition. Despite many challenges, Heather has demonstrated stunning improvements and perseverance in the last two months, and she earned her way to Argentina,” said Dubnicoff.

Added Dubnicoff: “We are confident Heather will be continuing to work hard and improve her times on the bicycle. The experience in Argentina will be important for her to gauge herself with competitors from other countries, and evaluate what she needs to do to improve.”

In Argentina, Moyse will ride in two individual events - the sprint and the 500m Time Trial, both low-risk events. The event runs March 3-11, and includes both road and track disciplines.